DOWAGIAC — Though the basement of the Round Oak Revisited in Dowagiac currently has power tools scattered across its surfaces and dust settled on the floor, in just a few weeks, the space will be transformed into a lively bar, complete with dancing and a banquet hall, according to its owners.

“We are going to have a full bar, and we will have a dance floor, which is pretty rare in Dowagiac,” said owner Cindy Brosnan, as she stood behind the bar, showing off all its amenities. “We are really excited about this.”

The Round Oak Revisited, located on Front Street in Dowagiac, is planning to reopen Philo’s Pub, the long-closed bar in the basement of the Round Oak Revisited restaurant. The basement, which will bring the Round Oak Revisited’s space up to two and a half floors, will feature a full bar, dance floor, banquet hall, additional seating for the upstairs restaurant and live entertainment. Though the project has been in the works for a long time, it may be completed in as little as two weeks, Brosnan said.

“We don’t have an exact opening date, but that’s what we are hoping for,” she said. “Since we bought [the building] we’ve tossed around ideas, but people kept telling us we had to reopen Philo’s Pub. … The public spoke. We had to listen to the people.”

Originally opened in the 1980s, Philo’s Pub was, for a long time, a mainstay of Dowagiac nightlife. Brosnan herself can remember moving her feet across the dance floor of the pub in her younger years. With this history in mind, Brosnan walked around the pub area, pointing out facets of the space — from a century-old cash register to original, refinished tables — that she plans to keep in place to amp up the space’s nostalgia factor. With each piece she shows, Brosnan’s excitement grows, becoming more animated as she discusses the history of each piece.

“The aesthetics will be about the retention of the history,” she said. “When I was younger, I used to come here and dance and have a blast. I remember when I started remodeling, I said ‘let’s keep this, let’s keep this and let’s keep that.’ … I want people to have those same experiences they did years ago. It’s going to be really, really nice.”

However, all the refinishing and preserving took a great deal of time and labor, with Brosnan estimating that she spent 60 hours a week in the basement working on Philo’s Pub, while she was still working upstairs at the Round Oak Revisited. All that work, she said, makes her all the more excited to finally open the bar.

“We are ready,” Brosnan said. “And we know the public is ready, too.”

Though Philo’s Pub is located in the same building as the Round Oak Revisited, Brosnan said the two businesses will have distinctly different feels to them and will serve different purposes.

“It would be great if this felt like a true night out, that people can start out upstairs and have a great, nice dinner, then head downstairs for a couple drinks and dancing to finish the night off,” she said. “It will really be a mini-mall of food, spirits and entertainment.”

Brosnan said she hopes the reopened Philo’s Pub will live up to the expectations of those who have been asking for it and that the business will contribute to bringing people to the city of Dowagiac.

“It takes a lot of businesses to make a city and the more we have to offer as business owners, the more people it will attract. We think [Philo’s Pub] will attract people,” she said. “We want this place to be fun. We want this be more than a bar.”